Uncle from a poor family - Chapter 731: National Participation

Zhang Luan sat there, looking very depressed.

Perhaps it was because he thought about the time when Li Zisheng was around, when there were new ways to please him every day, and he could always find unprecedented new and novel experiences with Li Zisheng.

Recently, in order to recuperate, he has been lying in bed all day long. Not only can he live like a monk, but he can hardly even see the sun.

It is true that when you talk about memories, everything is beautiful, but when you mention reality, it makes people feel infinite pain.

"Who said no?"

Zhang Luan retorted, "He has connections, experience in government, and he is very principled. When we encounter difficulties, he is willing to do his best to help us. As long as he is here, I can feel at ease even if I am sick here."

Zhang Yanling looked at Zhang Luan with a mocking look.

It seems to be saying, are you sure you think he is indispensable because he can help you with things?Isn't it so that you can pursue pleasure?

"Oh, at this rate, after another half month of recovery, I should be able to go out for a walk."

Zhang Yanling said.

"Half a month, and he can only walk a little... How long will it take to recover like before when he was completely healthy?"

Zhang Luan asked quickly.

"Okay, stop scaring your father."

Zhang Luan lay there, with a look of despair, "If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed at home. At least I could have seen your mother and aunt."

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "That's why I won't let you go home now. This way you can avoid disturbing your kidney energy!"

"..."

He is required to recuperate and cultivate his character, but there is not even a female mouse to be found in the yard. He is really bored.

For someone like him, who has seen the world of pleasure and the ups and downs of the gentle world over the past year or so, the ascetic life he is living now is nothing short of a huge disaster.

"Okay, Dad, I still have to continue researching artillery." Zhang Yanling said, "By the way, I'll find a map and choose a few places to mine. It involves iron and coal, which is very troublesome."

Zhang Luan was surprised and said, "My son, you have really made a name for yourself. Not only can you make cannons, but you also want to open a mine? Where to open it? Are you going to take over other people's mines? Listen to your father's advice. You are not good at this. You might as well find Huizhou merchants. They will do it properly."

Zhang Yanling said, "Mining requires human and material support, right? After all, from site selection and exploration to factory construction and mining, there is no shortage of manpower. In the past, WeChat businessmen were always commissioned to do the work. Even before when you raised money and food, many of them donated money... You have to let them see some benefits..."

"Huh!?"

Zhang Luan was in doubt and asked, "Did I hear you correctly? You mean, you can find a mine, but you don't open it yourself or let the royal family open it, but let the Huizhou merchants do it? Isn't it just letting the Huizhou merchants buy the ready-made ore?"

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Dad, you are right. I will determine the general location and send people to the corresponding place for exploration and mining. This is equivalent to giving them silver."

"Dad, who told me to find a Huishang merchant just now?"

Zhang Yanling sneered.

"Uh... Before, your father told you that if you can't find the mineral vein, you should go to the Huizhou merchants. But if you can really find the location by scratching on the map, why bother sharing the profits with others? Child, don't you understand what I'm saying?"

Zhang Luan was a little anxious.

Perhaps because his illness was still very serious, Zhang Luan felt a pain in his chest whenever he started coughing, and he couldn't help but grimace.

Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, you can't talk, so just say less, and don't get angry. Let me put it this way, it's not appropriate for us to open a mine with the royal family. It's easy to be criticized by the civil officials... They will say that we are using the emperor's tiger skin to make money, competing with the people for profits, and seriously endangering the Ming Dynasty."

"What kind of heresy?"

Zhang Luan coughed for a while before asking with a rough breath.

“Where’s the precedent?”

Zhang Luan asked.

Naturally, Zhang Yanling would not tell his cheap father that the so-called precedent was actually a "later example", namely Wanli's experience in mining.

Intellectuals love to find fault.

But once the emperor asked eunuchs to open mines, they would say that those eunuchs were exploiting the people and wasting money and resources.

Not to mention that the person opening the mine is a relative by marriage.

Once the civil servants see that the royal family and their relatives are doing well in the mining business, they will become jealous and start to find all kinds of faults, saying that they are competing with the people for profits.

Now Zhang Yanling is doing the opposite.

I won't give you any excuse.

Let private individuals open mines directly.

Even those of you in the civil service group who are capable can choose to join in... As long as we can open the mine, who are we going to sell the large amounts of coal and iron ore to?

Because more is mined, the prices of coal and iron ore will not be high, and the public will naturally increase their use of iron and coal, which will greatly promote the progress of the steel industry.

If Zhang Yanling simply wanted to keep the wealth for himself, he had plenty of ways to do it. There was no need to go to great lengths to open a mine. What he needed was support from the court. To put it bluntly, Zhang Yanling wanted the participation of the entire nation.

One person cannot drive the industrial revolution of the Ming Dynasty. Only when the entire Ming Dynasty participates in the industrialization process can there be a chance to completely change the fate of the Ming Dynasty and make the dynasty cycle law ineffective.

……

……

"Second Master, you have fulfilled your mission. Both cannons fired their shells perfectly, hitting the target exactly. The power is truly astonishing!"

Qin Yun seemed very excited.

After a long period of preparation, I finally managed to show myself in front of people.

Originally, people in the market believed that Qin Yun was the second generation of eunuchs who relied on Qin Chang to get to the top. Some people also thought that he got to the top by currying favor with the Zhang family. In short, his reputation has always been bad.

After all, Zhang's father and son did not appear at the military parade, and matters related to the firing of cannons were all done by Qin Yun alone.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "That depends on your ability, Captain Qin. Thank you for your hard work this time... You are not expecting me to give you a reward, are you? I am a little short of money recently."

Qin Yun said quickly: "Second Master, what are you talking about? The brothers are very grateful to you! Now, let alone reward money, even if you give them silver, they all hope to work under me.

"The Jinyiwei used to be looked up to by others. People thought they could only handle some cases and extort ordinary people. But now... hehe."

In the past, the Jinyiwei were more of spies or law enforcement agencies, a knife held by the emperor on the necks of officials. Although it was glorious, some people said that they were just for show and were not suitable for doing big things.

And because this artillery demonstration was led by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it let the world know that this group of guys who could only arrest people and try cases actually had actual combat capabilities and could become the elite on the battlefield of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Zhang Yanling said, "It's a pity that we haven't made enough cannons yet. We have to continue casting. I mentioned to your majesty that I plan to go out of the city recently. I may go to some places around the capital and open some mines. I may need you to accompany me then."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yun immediately showed full enthusiasm for work, patted his chest and said: "Second Master, please relax, I will go through fire and water for you, and the brothers all want to repay you." "Repay what? We are all working for the court... Besides, I didn't bring them any substantial benefits."

"no need……"

Qin Yun quickly refused.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "We have known each other for a long time. You know my character. To accomplish great things, you must clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments. When have I ever treated anyone who has worked for me unfairly?"

"You are still open-minded."

Thinking of the benefits he had received from Zhang Yanling before, Qin Yun felt full of motivation.

Now that he has a wife and his mother is being taken care of, his status in the Jinyiwei is rising, and his brothers are also respected by others... These are his motivations for wanting to continue working with Zhang Yanling.

Zhang Yanling said: "Then go back and prepare, and leave in two days. The court will issue an order, but I don't know when it will be delivered to you..."

Tan Yun said: "In fact, you can go and tell Commander Zhu, it will work."

Zhang Yanling reminded, "I don't hold an official position now, so how can I give orders to you Jinyiwei? I asked His Majesty to do this, and you should cooperate. Oh, by the way, I may need you to help me do something, which is to find a few people who are familiar with the terrain around the capital. I need more guides for this trip."

"You need a guide? Can't you find a local?"

Tan Yun asked.

"No."

"Ok."

Although Qin Yun didn't quite understand, he knew one thing for sure.

That is, he just needs to do whatever Zhang Yanling tells him to do.

Sometimes asking too many questions can make you look stupid.

Zhang Yanling said, "It is mainly used for mountaineering, including hooks, ropes, etc., as well as spades, shovels, etc. This trip will be very hard, so let your people be mentally prepared."

……

……

Jinyiwei, Northern Pacification Office.

"Eunuch Li, I have already investigated in detail what you said about the Armory Bureau and Wanggong Factory making cannons. There is indeed no relevant record before. From the Chenghua period to the present, there has been no record of new cannons being cast."

Zhu Ji looked a little embarrassed.

It was obvious that Li Rong was now questioning on behalf of the Internal Minister Huai En.

Zhu Ji understood that even though Huai En was about to step down, he was retiring due to illness. The emperor had said that he would let Huai En stay in the capital and continue to serve as an advisor. The old man would have the opportunity to meet the emperor in the future and provide advice.

People have to bow their heads under the roof.

I don't want to get involved in court disputes anymore, but some things must be investigated.

Li Rong said coldly: "The court had previously allocated silver to the Armory Bureau to ask them to improve their artillery. Where did the silver go?"

Li Rong got angry when he heard this.

At the moment, Huai En doesn't seem to care about breaking his promise, but it is Li Rong who wants to make up for it for him.

As long as Huai En said that heaven can be reached in one step, Li Rong would be responsible for finding the ladder and proving it to the world.

Zhu Ji said: "There are indeed relevant records, but in fact, when the previous emperor was alive, many expenses were set up in the name of others and were never put into practice. What's worse, the money was secretly taken away before it was transferred to the relevant government offices."

"Who? Li Zisheng?"

Zhu Ji said helplessly: "In fact, it was mainly Liang Fang and Wei Xing. They used to have the support of Concubine Wan and benefited a lot from it."

"them?"

Li Rong frowned and said, "From what you said, it seems that you want to get rid of the matter by pushing the blame onto two people who can no longer prove the crime?"

Zhu Ji said, "Eunuch Li, the two of them are still alive. Why don't you just find them and ask them clearly? Besides, the Armory Bureau does not have this amount of money to allocate. Even if it does, it will take a long time to establish the project and move forward. Then, how long will it take to build it?"

"It's also..."

Zhu Ji was in a difficult situation.

I was thinking, what’s the point of always questioning me?

I myself am baffled by what you are saying.

Is there any reason for this?

Li Rong stepped forward and said in a low but firm voice: "General Zhu, no matter what happens now, we have to find someone who made the cannon and have him come forward to question whether the Zhang family was responsible for this."

Zhu Ji was extremely shocked and retorted: "Eunuch Li, this is not in accordance with the rules... Once His Majesty investigates, who will bear the responsibility?"

Zhu Ji thought, you and Huai En are very powerful, you are the real power in the Ming Dynasty, you can easily decide other people's life and death.

You use your power to force me to do things and let me "frame" Zhang Guozhang. Even if what you said unfortunately comes true and Zhang Guozhang really took credit for other people's work and was exposed by me, can Zhang Guozhang and Li Zisheng behind him let me go?Li Rong said: "Commander Zhu, have you ever thought about what will happen to those close to you after you leave the Jinyiwei?"

Zhu Ji's heart was shocked.

His eldest son Zhu Chen also worked in the Jinyiwei, currently a centurion. After he retired, he could be promoted to a thousand or even a commander. However, in history, Zhu Chen was enfeoffed to Anlu with Prince Xing, and later followed Emperor Jiajing into the court and became the first commander of the Jinyiwei after Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne.

Right now, Zhu Ji, who doesn't know the chances of his descendants, has a "weakness".

Zhu Ji thought, you just said that it must exist or not exist... Now what you mean is that we need to find this person or this small team and make sure they can stand the test and be proven to have done it and not let Zhang Guozhang take the credit for it. Is that what you mean?

Li Rong said: "Commander Zhu, is there a problem?"

"No."

Zhu Ji's face showed a look of despair, "I will definitely complete my mission."

Li Rong nodded with satisfaction. "After we go back, we will go to Eunuch Huai to praise your ability. And your son's promotion, it seems that it is no longer a problem. As for Mou Bin... Hehe, he has the ability to do things, but he can't compare to you. It seems that he is more suitable to go to Nanjing Jinyiwei."

The implication is that as long as you can accomplish this task, Mou Bin, who Huai En originally had high hopes for, will be transferred to Nanjing this time.

It means leaving the position for you and your people.

Because Mou Bin had offended Zhang Luan before, he now had an awkward position in the Jinyiwei. It seemed that his potential position as the commander of the Jinyiwei was about to fall through.